Michelle Wie West's advice for the grind of tour life is get a dog

Michelle Wie West's first dog, Lola, came on a whim. It was 2009, and the 20-year-old LPGA rookie who grew up in a Honolulu high rise and had never owned a pet, picked out a Pomeranian mix who’d melted her heart.

The only problem?

She was headed to the State Farm Classic in Illinois the next day. Wie West called the airline to find out what she’d need and headed north, puppy in tow.

The first day she left Lola in a crate and headed to the golf course, the 5-pound dog somehow managed to get onto the hotel bed but couldn’t get off. Wie West came back to a mess.

“The hotel didn't know that I had a dog,” she recalled. “I snuck her in because it was too late to change hotels. I remember finding the housekeeper, and you know, just slipping some cash and being like, ‘I'm so sorry, can we keep this between us?’ ”

Four-month-old Lola, it turns out, also enjoyed peeling off hotel wallpaper, though thankfully she wouldn’t eat the pieces. Wie West relied on her artistic talents to glue them back on like a jigsaw puzzle. She also traveled with wood paint.

“Thankfully, she got better,” said Wie West. “This is just, you know, we just threw her on the road one day after getting her. None of this was her fault.”

Lola, who died suddenly from a heart attack three years ago, was a constant companion throughout her years on the LPGA and at Stanford.

“It gets really lonely out there and, you know, I had a lot of tough years on the tour,” said Wie West. “It's just amazing to come back to someone that that doesn't care if you're playing bad or not.”

Now retired from the LPGA and married with two kids and three dogs, 36-year-old Wie West stays busy in the golf world but also dabbles in other heart ventures, like her recent partnership with Royal Canin to mark the 25^th anniversary of the American Kennel Club (AKC) National Championship.

The 2014 U.S. Women's Open champion joins Indiana quarterback and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza and 13-time WTA doubles champion Asia Muhammad – and their dogs – as part of Royal Canin's Most Valuable Pup (MVP) team.

The Wests have two Old English Sheepdogs, Gatsby (12 ½) and Daisy (4) as well as 2-year-old Rome, a 140-pound Cane Corso.  

“It was funny, when I was pregnant with Makenna, Gatsby was actually the first one to know,” said Wie West. “Because of how differently he was acting, we're like, oh, maybe we should, like, test.”

Makenna is now 5 years old, and son Jagger, who turned 1 in October, has a particular attachment to Rome.

Dog shows have long been a part of Wie West’s annual holiday viewing schedule. This year’s AKC National Championship presented by Royal Canin will air Dec. 28 from 12-3 p.m. ET on ABC.

“I feel like the Old English Sheepdog always does really well, and I like seeing their really floofy butts,” said Wie West. “As much as I've tried to like tease our dogs' butts, they never look quite the same.”

Wie West is a firm believer that every player on tour could benefit from the support of a dog.

Last month at the CME Group Tour Championship, Lydia Ko brought her Shibu Inu named Kai into the press room while out on a walk. Kai had gotten away from her last year at the event and took off running down the 18th at Tiburon Golf Club, even taking a dip in the lake. His antics became a hot topic of discussion in the media room, and it became clear that Kai – who came on the scene mid-year – had played a significant role in her fairy-tale 2024 season.  

After a January escape at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions in Orlando, where Ko has a home in Lake Nona, it took the help of fellow tour players Minjee Lee and Megan Khang to get Kai corralled. Since then, he’s been through extensive dog training. Ko arrived at this year’s CME less concerned about daring escapes and gator-filled ponds.

"He's like around 2, just under 2, so he has his moments," said Ko. "But his training has been great, and I think it gives us the flexibility to be together more and for him to be there and support me."

Lexi Thompson has called her beloved Havapoo, Leo, “life-changing.” When she played full-time on the LPGA, he traveled with her to most American stops, more than a dozen each year.

“No matter how I play, whatever I do, he’s always there to greet me, make me smile and lick me to death,” Thompson once said while holding Leo in her arms during a pro-am.

Like Wie West, Thompson has also been on redecorating duty, having once run to Home Depot to repair the hotel room door of an Embassy Suites after Leo showed his displeasure at being left behind.

All agree that every bit of the hassle has been more than worth it. Science shows that owning a pet can lower stress and lift moods, but owners don’t need any studies to tell them that.

“It’s pretty cool to see a lot more players traveling with dogs now,” said Wie West, adding, “I think every everyone should get a dog. They're the best companions.

“You know, they are our MVPs.”